Railroads of the United States

Frequently-anticipated questions:

• What does this data set describe?
  1. How should this data set be cited?
  2. What geographic area does the data set cover?
  3. What does it look like?
  4. Does the data set describe conditions during a particular time period?
  5. What is the general form of this data set?
  6. How does the data set represent geographic features?
  7. How does the data set describe geographic features?
• Who produced the data set?
  1. Who are the originators of the data set?
  2. Who also contributed to the data set?
  3. To whom should users address questions about the data?
• Why was the data set created?
• How was the data set created?
  1. From what previous works were the data drawn?
  2. How were the data generated, processed, and modified?
  3. What similar or related data should the user be aware of?
• How reliable are the data; what problems remain in the data set?
  1. How well have the observations been checked?
  2. How accurate are the geographic locations?
  3. How accurate are the heights or depths?
  4. Where are the gaps in the data? What is missing?
  5. How consistent are the relationships among the data, including topology?
• How can someone get a copy of the data set?
  1. Are there legal restrictions on access or use of the data?
  2. Who distributes the data?
  3. What's the catalog number I need to order this data set?
  4. What legal disclaimers am I supposed to read?
  5. How can I download or order the data?
• Who wrote the metadata?

What does this data set describe?

1. How should this data set be cited?

   National Atlas of the United States, 200509, Railroads of the United States: National Atlas of the United States, Reston, VA.

   Online Links:

   • <http://nationalatlas.gov/atlasftp.html?openChapters=chptrans#chptrans>

2. What geographic area does the data set cover?

   West_Bounding_Coordinate: -151.0

   East_Bounding_Coordinate: -67.0

   North_Bounding_Coordinate: 65.0

   South_Bounding_Coordinate: 25.0

3. What does it look like?

4. Does the data set describe conditions during a particular time period?

   Calendar_Date: Sep-2005

   Currentness_Reference: Publication date

5. What is the general form of this data set?

6. How does the data set represent geographic features?
   1. How are geographic features stored in the data set?

      Indirect_Spatial_Reference:

      U.S. Department of Commerce, 1987, Codes for the Identification of the States, the District of Columbia and the Outlying Areas of the United States, and Associated Areas (Federal Information Processing Standard 5-2): Washington, D.C., National Institute of Standards and Technology.

      This is a Vector data set. It contains the following vector data types (SDTS terminology):
      • Complete chain (8563)

   2. What coordinate system is used to represent geographic features?

      Horizontal positions are specified in geographic coordinates, that is, latitude and longitude. Latitudes are given to the nearest 0.000278. Longitudes are given to the nearest 0.000278. Latitude and longitude values are specified in Decimal degrees.

      The horizontal datum used is North American Datum of 1983.
      The ellipsoid used is GRS1980.
      The semi-major axis of the ellipsoid used is 6378137.
      The flattening of the ellipsoid used is 1/298.257222.
      

7. How does the data set describe geographic features?

   Railroad (described by railrdl020.dbf)

   A set of parallel rails on which a train runs. (Source: National Atlas of the United States)

   Shape

   The representation of the entity in the data. (Source: National Atlas of the United States.)

   Value	Definition
   PolyLine	2-dimensional element

   Fnode_

   Internal sequence number of the from-node. (Source: National Atlas of the United States)

   Range of values
   Minimum:	1
   Maximum:	6454

   Tnode_

   Internal sequence number of the to-node. (Source: National Atlas of the United States)

   Range of values
   Minimum:	2
   Maximum:	6454

   Length

   Length of the arc in coverage units. (Source: National Atlas of the United States)

   Range of values
   Minimum:	0.000
   Maximum:	7.351

   Railrdl020

   Internal sequence number. (Source: National Atlas of the United States)

   Range of values
   Minimum:	1
   Maximum:	8563

   Rrowner1

   The name of the railroad that owns the track. Tracks may be owned by more than one railroad, in which case this is the name of the largest railroad that owns the track. (Source: National Atlas of the United States)

   There is no predefined set of valid railroad names.

   Rrowner2

   The name of the second-largest railroad that owns the track, if any. (Source: National Atlas of the United States)

   Value	Definition
   <blank>	The track is owned by only one railroad.

   There is no predefined set of valid railroad names.

   Rrowner3

   The name of the third-largest railroad that owns the track, if any. (Source: National Atlas of the United States)

   Value	Definition
   <blank>	The track is owned by one or two railroads.

   There is no predefined set of valid railroad names.

   Mark1

   The reporting mark of the railroad that owns the track. Tracks may be owned by more than one railroad, in which case this is the reporting mark of the largest railroad that owns the track. (Source: National Atlas of the United States)

   Formal codeset
   Codeset Name:	Rule 260 and Railroad Owner Codes
   Codeset Source:	Federal Railroad Administration

   Mark2

   The reporting mark of the second-largest railroad that owns the track, if any. (Source: National Atlas of the United States)

   Value	Definition
   <blank>	The track is owned by only one railroad.

   Formal codeset
   Codeset Name:	Rule 260 and Railroad Owner Codes
   Codeset Source:	Federal Railroad Administration

   Mark3

   The reporting mark name of the third-largest railroad that owns the track, if any. (Source: National Atlas of the United States)

   Value	Definition
   <blank>	The track is owned by one or two railroads.

   Formal codeset
   Codeset Name:	Rule 260 and Railroad Owner Codes
   Codeset Source:	Federal Railroad Administration

Who produced the data set?

1. Who are the originators of the data set? (may include formal authors, digital compilers, and editors)
   • National Atlas of the United States

2. Who also contributed to the data set?

3. To whom should users address questions about the data?
   Woodley Chu
   National Atlas of the United States
   12201 Sunrise Valley Dr
   Reston, VA 20192
   

   703-648-6375 (voice)
   [email protected]
   

Why was the data set created?

These data are intended for geographic display and analysis at the national level, and for large regional areas. The data should be displayed and analyzed at scales appropriate for 1:2,000,000 data. No responsibility is assumed by the National Atlas of the United States in the use of these data.

How was the data set created?

1. From what previous works were the data drawn?

   NRN (source 1 of 7)

   Administration, Federal Railroad , 2003, National Rail Network 1:2,000,000: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Washington, DC.

   Type_of_Source_Media: CD-ROM

   Source_Contribution: Spatial and attribute information

   AAR (source 2 of 7)

   RailServe.com, 2003, AAR Railroad Reporting Marks: RailServe.com, Morrisville, PA.

   Online Links:

   • <http://www.railserve.com/aar_railroad_reporting_marks.html>

   Type_of_Source_Media: Online

   Source_Contribution: Attribute information

   DP (source 3 of 7)

   Depot, Railroad, 2003, Railroad Depot.

   Online Links:

   • <http://www.rrdepot.com>

   Type_of_Source_Media: Online

   Source_Contribution: Attribute information

   TC (source 4 of 7)

   TrainsCan, 2003, Reporting Marks.

   Online Links:

   • <http://www.trainscan.com/data/mark>

   Type_of_Source_Media: Online

   Source_Contribution: Attribute information

   PW (source 5 of 7)

   Piedmont and Western Railroad Club, 2003, Association of American Railroads Reporting Marks: Piedmont and Western Railroad Club, Valdese, NC.

   Online Links:

   • <http://www.pwrr.org/rrm>

   Type_of_Source_Media: Online

   Source_Contribution: Attribute information

   NRHS (source 6 of 7)

   National Railway Historical Society, 2001, NRHS Reporting Marks Database: National Railway Historical Society, Philadelphia, PA.

   Online Links:

   • <http://www.nrhs.com/reporting_marks>

   Type_of_Source_Media: Online

   Source_Contribution: Attribute information

   Atlas_States (source 7 of 7)

   National Atlas of the United States, 200206, State Boundaries of the United States: National Atlas of the United States, Reston, VA.

   Online Links:

   • <http://nationalatlas.gov/atlasftp.html?openChapters=chpbound#chpbound>

   Type_of_Source_Media: Online

   Source_Scale_Denominator: 2000000

   Source_Contribution: Spatial information

2. How were the data generated, processed, and modified?

   Date: Aug-2004 (process 1 of 1)

   The NRN data were loaded into Arc/INFO and the list of attributes was edited to include a maximum of three railroad owner names and their corresponding reporting marks. Additional railroad owner names were obtained from the AAR, DP, TC, and PW sources. The sources DP and NRHS were used to identify abandoned railroads and rail lines no longer in existence, which were then deleted. The attributes were reorganized, so that for tracks with multiple owners, the largest railroad is listed as Rrowner1, with the next smaller railroad listed as Rrowner2, and the smallest of the three railroads, if any, listed as Rrowner3. Some tracks were adjusted inland from open water using Atlas_States as a guide. Tracks were generalized, particularly in congested areas, and merged where they run closely parallel to one another. The file was saved as a Shapefile.

   Data sources used in this process:

   • NRN
   • AAR
   • DP
   • TC
   • PW
   • NRHS
   • Atlas_States

3. What similar or related data should the user be aware of?

How reliable are the data; what problems remain in the data set?

1. How well have the observations been checked?

2. How accurate are the geographic locations?

3. How accurate are the heights or depths?

4. Where are the gaps in the data? What is missing?

   This map layer includes railroads in the conterminous United States and Alaska.

5. How consistent are the relationships among the observations, including topology?

   The Arc/INFO commands BUILD and CLEAN were run to ensure the topological consistency of the map layer.

How can someone get a copy of the data set?

Are there legal restrictions on access or use of the data?

Access_Constraints: None

Use_Constraints:

None. Acknowledgment of the National Atlas of the United States of America would be appreciated in products derived from these data.

1. Who distributes the data set? (Distributor 1 of 1)
   Earth Science Information Center, U.S. Geological Survey
   507 National Center
   Reston, VA 20192
   

   1-888-ASK-USGS (1-888-275-8747) (voice)
   

   Contact_Instructions:

   In addition to the address above there are other ESIC offices throughout the country. A full list of these offices is at <http://ask.usgs.gov/esic_index.html>.

2. What's the catalog number I need to order this data set?

3. What legal disclaimers am I supposed to read?

   Although these data have been processed successfully on a computer system at the U.S. Geological Survey, no warranty expressed or implied is made by the U.S. Geological Survey regarding the utility of the data on any other system, nor shall the act of distribution constitute any such warranty. No responsibility is assumed by the U.S. Geological Survey in the use of these data.

4. How can I download or order the data?
   • Availability in digital form:

     Data format:	ESRI Shapefile
     Network links:	<http://nationalatlas.gov/atlasftp.html?openChapters=chpbound#chpbound>

     Data format:	SDTS
     Network links:	<http://nationalatlas.gov/atlasftp.html?openChapters=chpbound#chpbound>

   • Cost to order the data: There is no charge for the map layer.

Who wrote the metadata?

Dates:

Last modified: 30-May-2006

Metadata author:

Peg Rawson
National Atlas of the United States
12201 Sunrise Valley Dr
Reston, VA 20192

703-648-4183 (voice)
[email protected]

Metadata standard:

FGDC Content Standards for Digital Geospatial Metadata (FGDC-STD-001-1998)